Rice Bashed Over Staff Gaps, Low Morale

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Rice Bashed Over Staff Gaps, Low Morale

By ANNE GEARAN
Tuesday, June 5, 2007; 7:49 PM

WASHINGTON -- The State Department has too few people to fill
increasingly difficult jobs while the Iraq and Afghanistan wars
drain off resources, an independent report found Tuesday.

The report from the Foreign Affairs Council, which includes retired
ambassadors and senior diplomats, also said morale is dropping
among diplomats.

The council found a severe staff shortage and holds Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice partly responsible. The State Department
needs 1,100 more employees, especially since recent staff
additions have gone to fill jobs in Iraq, Afghanistan and other
difficult posts, the report said.

"In the first two years of Secretary Rice's stewardship almost
no net new resources have been realized," the report said. It
noted that Congress has twice denied money for Rice's plan to
rearrange diplomatic postings away from the Cold War model,
which was heavy on jobs in Europe, and toward modern
challenges in places like China and India.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/05/AR2007060501472.html

---

Source: Agence France-Presse

Rice blamed for staff shortage, low morale among US diplomats

by P. Parameswaran
52 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Saddled by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan,
the US State Department faces an acute staff shortage amid "worsening
morale," according to a study blaming Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice for the problem.

-snip-

"Job one" is to obtain 1,100 new positions needed "to move the foreign
service from where it is to where it needs to be," said the council's
report, "Managing Secretary Rice's State Department: An independent
assessment."

Reinforcing the view that Rice had to bear responsibility for the
crisis, Boyatt said: "Every cabinet level officer has the responsibility
of taking care of the institution he or she leads.

"Every secretary of government has responsibility to at least lead that
institution as healthy as they found it, if not to improve it," he said.

Boyatt said that the State Department was "more overstretched" than
the military.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070606/pl_afp/usriceiraqafghanistandiplomacy_070606053319

[JeffR]

1. "I don't think anyone could have anticipated

that she couldn't manage her way out of a paper bag."

Of all the mediocrities Emperor Shrub has surrounded himself with, she's probably the worst.

[EFerrari]

3. Well, at least she hasn't shot anyone yet. n/t

[tanyev]

6. "Yet"

There's still time.

[Supersedeas]

9. her snarky smile can make this issue go away--just don't challenge her integrity with her own words

[calimary]

19. No KIDDING.

Man, was this one oversold. And overhyped. Holy GOD.

I always like to remind people that it was she who won the tug-of-war against rummy for the much-vaunted position of "coordinator of post-war Iraq." Looks like she's done a bang-up job there, too. About as capital a job as rove has done in charge of post-Katrina reconstruction of New Orleans.

:eyes:

[Solo_in_MD]

2. OMG, the cookie pushers are whinning...

[truthisfreedom]

4. But but but...

She has an oil tanker named after her ass!

[Divernan]

5. Staff gaps/low morale? - that's true for EVERY federal agency.

In the most hallowed of Republican traditions, Bush & his gang of wreckers have certainly succeeded in castrating/gutting "big government" across the board. It has been most evident in FEMA, because Hurricane Katrina shone the bright light of worldwide coverage on the catastrophic effects of years of filling top slots with clueless, uncaring, incompetent political hacks;crucifying whistle blowers; driving out career civil servants with invaluable institutional knowledge; and leaving those hundreds upon hundreds of job openings unfilled, not to mention tranferring funds and job slots meant for FEMA into the black hole of Dept. of Homeland Security.

[Joe Bacon]

7. Kindasleazy is the most incompetent Secretary of State ever.

Sure am glad she didn't become NFL Commissioner!

[Supersedeas]

22. so, if you were a qualified professional...would you want to work for her??

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. Wow. A higher up being criticized for low staff and low morale?

I thought CEOs got millions of dollars in bonus money if they managed to do that to their employees.

[okoboji]

17. oh, don't worry

Because it is now known that she "officially" sucks at her job, it will be time for a promotion.

Can you say ... Vice President Rice? I knew that you could

[SpiralHawk]

10. "Condi sucks" - Foriegn Affairs Council

"But then what the hell were you expecting from a corrupt republicon crony who hangs with
Commander AWOL? Like her fearless leader, Condi is a screw up"

- Foriegn Affairs Councilo

[progressoid]

11. I guess America is finally running out of zombies to enable this clusterfuck of an administration.

[closeupready]

12. Considering how little I like her from reading about her, I can only imagine how demoralizing it

would be to work for her.

[Javaman]

13. I guess her idea of Kooky shirt friday idea fell flat.

:rofl:

[Generator]

14. Bashed? Bashed?

Does that mean being held account for doing a lousy job? WOW. I thought bashing was bitching about how much someone's hair cut cost, or shopping too much. You know, trivial stuff that's just snippy.

GOD forbid we actually say some facts about Ms. Rice's incompetence. She's being bashed! The horror.

[antonialee839]

21. That's the first thing that came to

my mind too. Bashed?

[lpbk2713]

15. Maybe if Condi bought everyone in State a new pair of shoes??

:eyes: :eyes:

[SpiralHawk]

18. A swell shoey suggestion imbued with kompassionate konzervative ideals, Ipbk

[tabasco]

16. No one could have anticipated this after that "bang up" job she did as National Security Advisor.

Well, except most of us here at DU.

[BikeWriter]

20. In her years as a federal beaureaucrat, Condi has proved to be a mediocre oil company executive.